On Wednesday, September 18th at the Regent Theater in Arlington, MA, Monty Neill, the Executive Director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest) will be facilitating a discussion following the screening of August to June. The movie calls into question the emphasis on test-based accountability and its influence on the way in which today's curriculum is being narrowed, impacting children’s joy of learning, sense of belonging, creative expression and self confidence.In a re … [Read more...]

There is really nothing surprising about William Johnson’s op ed in The New York Times Sunday Review. Mr. Johnson eloquently describes the plight of many teachers in contemporary urban American schools under the peculiar and confused pressure of state and national efforts to reform education through reliance on high stakes testing. Mr. Johnson has the courage and patience to work with some of the most difficult students encountered in a public high school. These students do not receive high marks … [Read more...]

Demonstrated dramatically in the case of an Atlanta school scandal, in which teachers admitted to changing test scores in order to meet the demands of the school superintendent, No Child Left Behind puts the focus in the wrong place. In the words of Dianne Ravitch, former Assistant Secretary of Education under President George H. W. Bush, the “simple minded and singular focus on test scores distorts and degrades the meaning and practice of education.”Well-formulated standards are of great use i … [Read more...]

The pressure to raise test scores and to compete with other countries generated bythe 1983 publication of A Nation at Riskhas led us in directions that decidedly do not keep students at the center inour focus. In particular, the recent wave of school reform enacted as law in theUSin 2001 under the mantle of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), mandates that allpublic schools make Adequate Yearly Progress demonstrated by raising scores onstandardized tests.At the core of this reform is the basic … [Read more...]

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NISCE publishes a series of white papers on the challenges and benefits of student-centered education. Download free pdfs of our latest white papers here. Interested in working with us on a white paper? Email twilson@nisce.org. Thanks.